UTAH'S SENATE MINORITY LEADER IS SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN DISTRICT 2

- Senate Minority Leader Rex Black, D-Salt Lake, will be seeking re-election to the District 2 seat that encompasses Rose Park, Glendale and South Salt Lake.

Black has served as Senate Minority leader for a record four terms and is the senior member of the Executive Appropriations Committee, the Transportation and Public Safety Appropriations Committee, the Business and Labor Committee, and the State and Local Affairs Committee."Sen. Black is truly one of the most influential and respected senators in the state," said State Democratic Party Chairman Randy Horiuchi. "The people who live in his district are fortunate because they have a senator who carries a lot of clout."

Black, a retired railroad engineer, also serves in the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Western Conference-Council of State Government and the Utah Democratic Party. He was also selected as Legislator of the Year by the Parent-Teacher Association and the Public Employees Association.

- Davis County real estate broker Lane Beattie has filed as the Republican candidate for Senate District 23, the seat currently held by Sen. Jack Bangerter, who is not seeking re-election.

Beattie is a member of the Child Safety Council of the Meadowbrook PTA, a Scouting coordinator for the Boy Scouts of America and has served on various civic committees.

He also served four years as a member of the governmental affairs committee for the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, as well as serving in other capacities within the real estate profession.

Beattie said he believes strongly in aggressive efforts to acquire additional clean industry for south Davis County to expand the county's tax base. He feels education remains one of state's most basic concerns.

- A Richfield contractor has filed as a Republican candidate for the Utah House of Representatives in District 71.

M. John Hales filed for the House seat now held by Rep. Tom Christensen, R-Richfiled. Christensen has filed for re-election to a fifth term.

Hales owns Hales Sand and Gravel and has lived in Richfield for 21 years. He is concerned about what he calls the state's sagging economy and believes taxes are out of control.

The district he is seeking to represent includes two-thirds of Sevier County and the southern half of Emery County.

- Rep. James F. Yardley, R-Panguitch, has filed his candidacy for a fourth term in the Utah House of Representatives, representing Distric 73.

The district includes Kane, Garfield, Piute and Wayne counties, as well as parts of Beaver and Washington counties.

In announcing his candidacy Yardley said he wants to follow through on programs he has been working on. He is a member of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee and served as vice chairman of the Business and Labor Committee for the past two years.

- Former Weber County Commissioner Roger Rawson has filed for the state Senate's District 20 seat, despite a vow two years ago to never again run for public office.

rawson, a Hooper Democrat, seeks his party's nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Glad Nielsen. Nielsen was appointed to the Senate in 1986 after former Sen. Lowell Peterson was elected to the two-year County Commission seat. Peterson beat Rawson in that election.

Rawson, also a former state legislator, said following his defeat that he was finished with elected office.

"Somebody else can take the abuse. I gave my community 14 years of my life, the best I had to offer," he said at the time.